US Codex
Pub. L.
Notes

Title I — Department of State Activities

114th Congress · Approved Dec 16, 2016 · 130 Stat. 1426

TITLE I Department of State Activities

SEC. 101. Office on International Religious Freedom; Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom.

(a)
In General.— Section 101 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6411) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (b), by inserting “ , and shall report directly to the Secretary of State” before the period at the end;
(2)
in subsection (c)—
(A)
in paragraph (1)—
(i)
by striking “ responsibility” and inserting “ responsibilities”;
(ii)
by striking “ shall be to advance” and inserting the following:

“(A) advance”

(iii)
in subparagraph (A), as redesignated, by striking the period at the end and inserting “ ; and”; and
(iv)
by adding at the end the following:

“(B) integrate United States international religious freedom policies and strategies into the foreign policy efforts of the United States.”

(B)
in paragraph (2), by inserting “ the principal adviser to” before “ the Secretary of State”;
(C)
in paragraph (3)—
(i)
in subparagraph (A), by striking “ and” at the end;
(ii)
in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting “ ; and”; and
(iii)
by adding at the end the following:

“(C) contacts with nongovernmental organizations that have an impact on the state of religious freedom in their respective societies or regions, or internationally.”

(D)
by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(E)
by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:

“(4) Coordination responsibilities.—In order to promote religious freedom as an interest of United States foreign policy, the Ambassador at Large—

“(A) shall coordinate international religious freedom policies across all programs, projects, and activities of the United States; and

“(B) should participate in any interagency processes on issues in which the promotion of international religious freedom policy can advance United States national security interests, including in democracy promotion, stability, security, and development globally.”

; and

(3)
in subsection (d), by striking “ staff for the Office” and all that follows and inserting “ appropriate staff for the Office, including full-time equivalent positions and other temporary staff positions needed to compile, edit, and manage the Annual Report under the direct supervision of the Ambassador at Large, and for the conduct of investigations by the Office and for necessary travel to carry out this Act. The Secretary of State should provide the Ambassador at Large with sufficient funding to carry out the duties described in this section, including, as necessary, representation funds. On the date on which the President’s annual budget request is submitted to Congress, the Secretary shall submit an annual report to the appropriate congressional committees that includes a report on staffing levels for the International Religious Freedom Office.”.
(b)
Sense of Congress.— It is the sense of Congress that maintaining an adequate staffing level at the Office, such as was in place during fiscal year 2016, is necessary for the Office to carry out its important work.

SEC. 102. Annual Report on International Religious Freedom.

(a)
In General.— Section 102(b)(1) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)(1)) is amended—
(1)
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “ September 1” and inserting “ May 1”;
(2)
in subparagraph (A)—
(A)
in clause (iii), by striking “ ; and” and inserting “ as well as the routine denial of visa applications for religious workers;”;
(B)
by redesignating clause (iv) as clause (vii); and
(C)
by inserting after clause (iii) the following:

“(iv) particularly severe violations of religious freedom in that country if such country does not have a functioning government or the government of such country does not control its territory;

“(v) the identification of prisoners, to the extent possible, in that country pursuant to section 108(d);

“(vi) any action taken by the government of that country to censor religious content, communications, or worship activities online, including descriptions of the targeted religious group, the content, communication, or activities censored, and the means used; and”

(3)
in subparagraph (B), in the matter preceding clause (i)—
(A)
by inserting “ persecution of lawyers, politicians, or other human rights advocates seeking to defend the rights of members of religious groups or highlight religious freedom violations, prohibitions on ritual animal slaughter or male infant circumcision,” after “ entire religions,”; and
(B)
by inserting “ policies that ban or restrict the public manifestation of religious belief and the peaceful involvement of religious groups or their members in the political life of each such foreign country,” after “ such groups,”;
(4)
in subparagraph (C), by striking “ A description of United States actions and” and inserting “ A detailed description of United States actions, diplomatic and political coordination efforts, and other”; and
(5)
in subparagraph (F)(i)—
(A)
by striking “ section 402(b)(1)” and inserting “ section 402(b)(1)(A)(ii)”; and
(B)
by adding at the end the following: “ Any country in which a non-state actor designated as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom under section 301 of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act is located shall be included in this section of the report.”.
(b)
Sense of Congress.— It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
the original intent of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) was to require annual reports from both the Department of State and the Commission on International Religious Freedom to be delivered each year, during the same calendar year, and with at least 5 months separating these reports, in order to provide updated information for policymakers, Members of Congress, and nongovernmental organizations; and
(2)
given that the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices no longer contain updated information on religious freedom conditions globally, it is important that the Department of State coordinate with the Commission to fulfill the original intent of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

SEC. 103. Training for Foreign Service Officers.

(a)
Amendments to Foreign Service Act of 1980.— Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively;
(B)
by striking “ (a) The Secretary of State” and inserting the following:

“(a) Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and Human Trafficking Training.—

“(1) In general.—The Secretary of State”

; and

(C)
by adding at the end the following:

“(2) Religious freedom training.—

“(A) In general.—In carrying out the training required under paragraph (1)(B), the Director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center shall, not later than the one year after the date of the enactment of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, conduct training on religious freedom for all Foreign Service officers, including all entry level officers, all officers prior to departure for posting outside the United States, and all outgoing deputy chiefs of mission and ambassadors. Such training shall be included in—

“(i) the A–100 course attended by all Foreign Service officers;

“(ii) the courses required of every Foreign Service officer prior to a posting outside the United States, with segments tailored to the particular religious demography, religious freedom conditions, and United States strategies for advancing religious freedom, in each receiving country; and

“(iii) the courses required of all outgoing deputy chiefs of mission and ambassadors.

“(B) Development of curriculum.—In carrying out the training required under paragraph (1)(B), the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, in coordination with the Director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center and other Federal officials, as appropriate, and in consultation with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom established under section 201(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(a)), shall make recommendations to the Secretary of State regarding a curriculum for the training of United States Foreign Service officers under paragraph (1)(B) on the scope and strategic value of international religious freedom, how violations of international religious freedom harm fundamental United States interests, how the advancement of international religious freedom can advance such interests, how United States international religious freedom policy should be carried out in practice by United States diplomats and other Foreign Service officers, and the relevance and relationship of international religious freedom to United States defense, diplomacy, development, and public affairs efforts. The Secretary of State should ensure the availability of sufficient resources to develop and implement such curriculum.

“(C) Information sharing.—The curriculum and training materials developed under this paragraph shall be shared with the United States Armed Forces and other Federal departments and agencies with personnel who are stationed overseas, as appropriate, to provide training on—

“(i) United States religious freedom policies;

“(ii) religious traditions;

“(iii) religious engagement strategies;

“(iv) religious and cultural issues; and

“(v) efforts to counter violent religious extremism.”

(2)
in subsection (b), by striking “ The Secretary of State” and inserting “ Refugees.—The Secretary of State”; and
(3)
in subsection (c), by striking “ The Secretary of State” and inserting “ Child Soldiers.—The Secretary of State”.
(b)
Report.— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, with the assistance of the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, and the Director of the Foreign Service Institute, located at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that contains a plan for undertaking training for Foreign Service officers under section 708 of the Foreign Services Act of 1980, as amended by subsection (a).

SEC. 104. Prisoner Lists and Issue Briefs on Religious Freedom Concerns.

Section 108 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6417) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (b), by striking “ faith,” and inserting “ activities, religious freedom advocacy, or efforts to protect and advance the universally recognized right to the freedom of religion,”;
(2)
in subsection (c), by striking “ , as appropriate, provide” and insert “ make available”; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:

“(d) Victims List Maintained by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.—

“(1) In general.—The Commission shall make publicly available, to the extent practicable, online and in official publications, lists of persons it determines are imprisoned or detained, have disappeared, been placed under house arrest, been tortured, or subjected to forced renunciations of faith for their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy by the government of a foreign country that the Commission recommends for designation as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under section 402(b)(1)(A)(ii) or by a non-state actor that the Commission recommends for designation as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom under section 301 of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act and include as much publicly available information as practicable on the conditions and circumstances of such persons.

“(2) Discretion.—In compiling lists under paragraph (1), the Commission shall exercise all appropriate discretion, including consideration of the safety and security of, and benefit to, the persons who may be included on the lists and the families of such persons.”